Odd Jobs
by ThroneRoomWitch
Summary: A vacation to Galdin Quay turns dire when Ceti learns of Insomnia's fall. Left with a scant amount of cash and no car she has to face her new status as a refugee. Ardyn Izunia is a man with a plan and—incidentally—a job. He tells Ceti he's seeking a friend for the end of days. She didn't think he was being literal. (Self indulgent semi-retelling of what happens behind the scenes)
1. Chapter 1

Honestly the first chapter is to inure you guys to the OC you're going to be spending a lot of time with. It's long, it's OC-centric, and the first chapter is pretty tonally different from others on purpose. I still think it's a decent read regardless. Future chapters will, of course, involve more of the main cast.

I mean, it's self indulgent fanfiction you guys, c'mon. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ It's also the first time I've written anything legitimately close to a story in like. . . ten years.

* * *

 **Odd Jobs**

Chapter One

Before we start on how I got here, I want you to know who I was before all this. You know? I was a person. I had hopes and dreams and interests and a job on the shit side of the city. On a grand scale none of these things were important but they were important to _me_. My name is Taceti Leparem. I was my own person once.

* * *

The first thing you learn about working the night shift is that while everyone is out at play, you're getting ready to go to work. Plus when I wasn't working club time for most people was around brunch time for me. I never really got into it as a result. Three hours into the day is no time for a party.

I work in a bar. Well, worked in a bar. It was more a strip club in the shit part of the city, really, but _I_ worked the bar. I used to strip but lasted for about five months before I just got tired of it. Sweaty dudes touching me all night? No thanks. You _literally_ can't afford to have an attitude, an attitude costs you cash. Being a bartender, though? They appreciate a good wit. Plus I'm not a bad looking gal. Dark hair, dark eyes, brown skin. Being easy on the eyes and sharp in the tongue has gotten me my fair share of good tips.

Ceti, you're asking, how is this even relevant? Are you just bragging? No. I mean, a little. Can't I be proud of who I was? But no. It means I'm a top class bullshitter. I could've had a bright future in politics. I've got a quick wit and a quick tongue and a penchant for drawing stories out from people. It'll be important later, trust me.

Anyway, lower class Insomnia is a real piece of work. I've never been attacked or anything, thank goodness, but I've had a few weird encounters. Funny thing is, I made enough money to move out into the middle class area. I probably could've even quit my job and made a living sell craft beers to twenty somethings in some trendy uptown bar. I just. . . I'd been living low all my life. At twenty five, I was scared. It felt too late. What if I failed and had to move back?

At least with my current job I could comfortably pretend that I could get out from the slums whenever I wanted.

So I get to work and it's a pretty fast day. A bachelor's party comes into the place and there are drinks all around. I wind up making bank. I did have to get a guy thrown out of the joint but such is life, you know? No one ever talks about it but the bartender is the one who's really in charge of the bouncers. A delicate sort of delegation, to be sure. Everyone wants to be safe, but everyone wants gil. The minute someone gets violent or one of the girls tells me she's uncomfortable, though? That customer is out.

I was the Queen of Bartendia, the General of Striplandia, the Patron Saint of the Hustle. I was doing well that night and counting tips as the sun rose that morning. I'd finished cleaning the bar, my legs were killing me, and all I wanted was to snooze for eight to ten hours back home. That wouldn't be happening, of course. I had to get up early so I could spend a full day in Galdin Quay.

It was nothing big, of course. Galdin Quay's hotel was way too expensive for me. Besides, I wasn't going with friends so I didn't see the point in shelling out a ton of gil to be a total beachside loner. All I'd need was a little travel bag. You know, the necessities. Change of clothes, a toothbrush, that kind of stuff. My mother was a careful woman. Always told me to bring a toothbrush wherever I went.

In my party girl days this helped me immensely. No one likes day old vodka breath.

I have terrible time management problems, anyway. I was pretty sure I'd wind up having to crash at a caravan. The buses don't usually run at night. Personally? I wouldn't want to take a night bus regardless. I'd heard about the daemons. Never did see one but the stories were enough to dissuade me.

* * *

My beach trip had gone splendidly. I'd gotten some well deserved sun that work so often deprived me of and collected a few seashells. I had, predictably, lost track of time and needed to sleep at a caravan.

I'd been peacefully drooling on the caravan bed's pillow when my phone started to buzz. It was my mother. It was also Too Early For That Shit. I hit ignore and turned around. I'm not sure how much time had passed from the first call to the next but she called again. My mother, by the way, has a storied history of stalker calling for the littlest things. I didn't want to hear about my little sister's latest girlfriend. I wanted to sleep. So I hit ignore. Again. This battle of attrition kept up until eventually I put the phone on silent and rolled over.

When I woke up I treated myself to a wetwipe bath and a crisp cat eye. All and all I looked presentable and not like I'd stone cold crashed in a trailer.

It was too hot for a black dress and too hot for boots as I braved the fiendish light of day and squinted out at the parking lot. Mornings always felt brighter to me than most. It's not like I woke to them often.

I'd been standing at the bus stop when I realized something was off. At first I thought my bus had been delayed. I never did trust buses, always more of a subway person myself. I'd chalked it up to traffic or some other nonsense but I had a gut feeling, you know? That kind of feeling that starts in the stomach and aches the palms.

It'd been an older woman that saw me.

"Excuse me?" She had one of those drawls you only really get in Leide.

"Yes?" Figuring she was going to ask for the time I went to pull my phone out. Out the corner of my eye I could see my notifications stacked atop one another.

"Darlin' didn't you hear?" The woman sounded sympathetic and already I knew the news was going to be bad.

"I didn't hear anything, only woke up about an hour or so ago." I said.

"Oh bless your heart. Darlin', ain't no buses runnin' out to Insomnia no more." Her voice bled sympathy. Her hand fluttered to her heart.

"What. . . What do you mean, why?" I could feel my stomach drop.

It's funny, that feeling you get when suddenly everything you thought you knew isn't what it is anymore. That odd feeling of dread. It made me run exhaustively hot and unbearably cold at the same time, made me want to shout but I couldn't find my voice.

I'd been in a fugue state as I stood there off to the side in the parking lot, away from the bustle of people and in whatever small bit of shade I could find. I checked my phone. Twenty seven missed calls. Most were from my mom. Some were from my sisters. A few voicemails I didn't bother listening to were peppered in and a few worried text messages. I can't tell you exactly what my mother said, just that she begged me to come see her in Lestallum.

I didn't have the money to get to Lestallum. Not all the way from Galdin Quay. I'd taken a good deal of cash with me but not enough to get me that far. I had no house, no job, and I didn't even have my fucking gun. At least then I'd feel less liable to get murdered while hitchhiking.

That's when he found me.

I don't know why he'd chosen me of all people. Wan in the face, looking askance, standing there in my scuffed up boots and just barely holding onto my travel bag. I must've looked the kind of desperate that wouldn't say no to a good offer.

"You seem to have run into a spot of trouble, my dear."

His voice was mellifluous, oily even. I don't often ask for favors—especially not from strangers—but his voice mixed with my desperation compelled me to turn and face him.

Ardyn Izunia.

I hadn't even recognized him when I first looked at him. I wasn't exactly keeping close tabs on political affairs and I was half in shock as it were. There was no way I could've known the importance of the man standing in front of me, what he was and what he'd become. In that moment he was just a man offering me assistance and I was just a woman desperate for help.

"I uh—I just—I just heard the news about Insomnia and I—" I know I said I'm an expert bullshitter. At the time, though, I couldn't find my charisma. It was back in Insomnia with everything else. Besides, part of being a good talker is knowing when to be earnest. I'd lost track of my words and instead let out a despondent laugh. "Just found out I'm a refugee so that's. . . something."

"Oh my." He clicked his tongue sympathetically. "Is there ought I can do to assist?"

"I'm trying to get to Lestallum but I've got nothing. No car, no food, no weapon, and only enough cash to get me half the way. Honestly—" The words all fell out of me too quick and crashing together. I let out another flat, nervous chuckle and tried to compose myself. "I don't know what anyone can do for me."

There was a moment's pause where he didn't say anything, he just watched me. I knew the look he was giving me. He was sizing me up.

"And if, perhaps, I had a job for you? It would pay handsomely." He offered.

"Well sir," I said. "I would say you're either incredibly kind or you were up to something. Maybe even both." This was enough to pull a short laugh from him. He wiggled a gloved finger at me, lips curled into a vague smile.

"Now I _know_ I've got a job for you." With that he turned and started walking. "Follow me, if you will."

I followed him to his hotel room like a lost puppy. I was wary but I didn't feel as if I had much of a choice. What were my options, really? At the very least Ardyn dressed like the kind of guy people would remember and not like your average Joe Schmo from down the block. If something were to happen to me there was a hotel full of witnesses.

* * *

We were sitting at the table when he slapped the gun down in front of me. There was a long, pregnant pause between the two of us. There I sat, staring at the gun. There he sat, staring at me. I knew I had to say something but what _do_ you say in that situation?

"Alright. . ." I began, picking it up. The weight of it felt comfortable in my hand, the first familiar thing since I'd heard the bad news. "What do you want me to kill?" It felt odd to say. I'd never killed a damn thing in my life beyond a few small game animals.

"Oh goodness me, no one!" There was a pause. There's always a pause. "Not yet. The gun is for your protection, my dear." As he spoke I was checking a few things. Safety was off, it was already fully loaded. Good.

Guns always made me think about my father. Sure, learning how to load a pistol isn't exactly the ideal father daughter bonding time but it was _our_ father daughter bonding time. I can't remember much of my childhood. This was due in part to my father being a mercurial and complicated man. He'd immigrated from Niflheim and I think something had happened to him there. He wouldn't talk about it and I knew better than to keep asking.

"Have to excuse my confusion, then. What exactly is it you want me to do?" He smiled. It didn't feel like a good smile.

"There's a group of gentlemen I need to keep track of. Boys, really. You know how boys are, always getting into trouble. Occasionally I might need someone to get closer to them, do a few odd jobs here and there, book a few hotel rooms, perhaps even drive a car."

"A personal assistant, then?" I asked.

"A friend for the end of days." He corrected.

I laughed. How could I have known he was being literal? He had a good chuckle too and for a moment the "joke" put me at ease. At the very least he wasn't humorless. All in all he seemed like the kind of person I could work for. Sure, I knew he wasn't telling me the whole story. But he was easy on the eyes and easier on the ears. Most importantly, he was my only tether to safety I had in an overall uncaring world.

"How long is this going to take? I need to get to Lestallum at some point." I reminded him.

The careful raise of his brow posed a question of its own. He seemed to ask, without words, " _And how do you plan on getting to Lestallum?"_ Instead he eased back into his chair, one leg crossing over the other. He removed his hat and set it gently on the table. "My business is wont to take me all over the world. Why, are you in a rush?"

"My family would like to know I'm safe." I could've sworn I saw a flicker of surprise in his eye. He hadn't been expecting that. It worried me.

"You've a phone, haven't you?" He asked sardonically.

"Well, yes." Now I felt a little dim. I'd have to lie, I realized, or they'd wind up asking too many questions I couldn't answer. The best lies, I'd come to find, are half truths. I'd tell them I found a job. I just wouldn't tell them what the job was. Maybe I'd say I was working the bar at Galdin Quay. My family loved me but not enough to drive all the way to the Quay to pick me up. Sucks, I know, but I don't blame them. Dangerous roads and not enough money. When my mother moved to Lestallum I'd only see them once a year.

"Perfect!" With that he lugged a suitcase up onto the table. The latches opened with a satisfying snap of a sound. Inside were a few holsters and more ammunition. "Do try not to tarry. We haven't much time."

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! I've an outline for where this is going but I haven't decided if I want this to involve a ship or not. I figure I'll see where the interactions go and base it off whether or not it feels right. Seeya in the next chapter!_


	2. Chapter 2

These chapters are so long, guys. I don't know why.

* * *

Ardyn's car was either a beautiful model or a gaudy piece of shit. I couldn't tell. I'd gone to run my hand down a racing stripe but the look he gave me made me think better of it. His coat seemed to swallow him up like a thick blanket. It was glaringly hot and I wondered why he didn't seem to be sweating despite this. **  
**

I kicked my travel bag to the side and slid into the passenger's seat. I hate closing car doors, I always feel like I'm either too gentle and the lock won't pop or I'm slamming them so hard the door will fall off. I did my best not to close it like an idiot.

"Where are we headed?" I asked.

"Back towards Hammerhead, my dear." He proclaimed it was if we were about to start a grandiose adventure, his wrist rolling in a flourish. Examining my nails I realized the teal polish I'd slapped on could use a touch up. Half of the polish on the left ring finger was gone.

"Mind I ask your name?" I was, predictably, full of questions.

"I don't mind at all." He practically purred. Everything about the way he spoke was like a shining lure just before a hook. He spoke as if he were lulling an animal out from a corner. I suppose he was. He turned to look at me, fingers plucking the brim of his hat just off the top of his head. "Ardyn Izunia."

"Do I know you from somewhere?" I squinted. The name didn't ring any bells, I was too deep in the fog of my mind. My expression betrayed a grim sort of thought, all in the eyebrows and the tightness of the mouth. "I swear I've seen your picture before."

"Oh I'm nobody of consequence. It's no surprise you've not heard of me, simply the Chancellor of Niflheim" I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Most everything he said had a weight and a humor to it.

". . . So what you're saying is I'm committing high treason in wartime." Nervously I rubbed my hands against my thighs. My chest felt tight. "Great. Perfect."

"Oh goodness, no, the war is over." He snorted. "Luscis lost, their crystal is now comfortably in our hands. You're on the winning side now. Lucky you." From the steering wheel he smiled aside to me.

For a moment I was silent. What was there to say? My father always told me that when it comes to dealing with authority you should keep your mouth closed and your head down. My head wasn't just down. It hung. It was a lot all at once. My thoughts were broken by an "ahem".

"I gave you my name, my dear. It's only polite you give me yours."

"Forgive me, we're not big on manners where I'm from. People call me Ceti."

"Ceti." He seemed to try on the name like a new pair of shoes. "It's nice to meet you."

"The feeling is mutual." Kind of.

For a while we drove in silence. It was oddly comfortable despite only knowing Ardyn for a few hours at best. It's not that I didn't want to talk. I couldn't. There was an adjustment period I had to get through. I tried to focus on other things, the way the wind felt against my skin or the stretches of green rapidly disappearing on either side of us. Every so often I'd see a herd of animals out in the distance and try to count them before we whizzed past.

Maybe it was my imagination but I swear I could feel Ardyn stealing a glance or two at me. Fair enough seeing as I was stealing a glance or two at him. Everything about him felt performative. The faint upturn at the corner of his lips never seemed to vanish. The gears behind his eyes were always turning. He seemed to favor silence in lieu of the radio but I couldn't help myself.

"Mind if I turn the radio on?"

"By all means."

I turned the dial and flipped through a few buttons. His collection of stations were eclectic, everything from pop to oldies to classical music. Eventually I found a news station. I needed confirmation and confirmation I got. The prince and the oracle were dead. The crystal was stolen. Insomnia had fallen.

"They're wrong about a few things, of course." Ardyn piped up. "You'll see in due time."

"That's a little cryptic." I muttered.

"What would be the fun in telling you everything at once?" Ardyn smiled. I felt like he was dangling a carrot in front of my face. I turned the radio off.

"Suppose secrets are the currency of politics." There was a dull bit of humor in my voice. "You ever get tired of it?"

"The politics?" He shrugged and made a middling gesture with his hand. "On occasion. The secrets?" He turned just enough so I could see him wink. "Not so much."

"It's not much different on the lower end of Insomnia. Don't tell folks anything they don't already know. Don't ask too many questions unless you have to." As I spoke I nervously rubbed my hands together. It made me feel servile next to him. Ardyn gave a silvery chuckle.

"Oh I'm beginning to like you. Though. . ." His finger lifted just a ways away from the steering wheel. "It isn't about not asking questions. It's about asking the right ones."

"Didn't let me finish." I said, a ghost of a smirk on my lips. "At work it's all about asking questions. Most folk want to talk about themselves in the right environment. You can have a whole conversation and say damn near nothing about yourself if you ask the right questions. Guess you already know that."

"I do. It's still nice to hear you know that. Hired wit is in low supply. I might just hold you to a higher standard."

"Not too high I hope."

"Oh, my dear, you'll learn it's best not to sell yourself short." He spoke on a facetious sigh.

I could see a gas station in the distance, a diner behind it. There was a large warehouse next door and the desert stretched out in a sun dyed red in all directions. Ardyn was humming something meandering and tuneless. I tightened my ponytail.

We pulled into the parking lot. There were a scant amount of cars and a blonde wearing the kind of outfit you'd have to be brave for. When he clicked the keys out from the ignition Ardyn shrugged off a few layers and he looked almost normal beneath them. Less suspicious at least. Between the two of us we looked like a man and his somewhat younger girlfriend. Probably two city folk who had just escaped Insomnia, if anyone really wanted to start taking guesses.

The man behind the counter was round and soft. I don't know how else to describe it. There wasn't a harsh angle on him. He had kind eyes and a welcoming voice. I smiled, gave a little wave, and went to follow Ardyn. To my surprise we wouldn't be dining alone. He'd stopped at a booth where a man sat looking harrowed and weary. Yeah buddy, I felt it too.

I was motioned to scoot into the booth and Ardyn followed after. When he sat the first thing he did was remove his hat and place it on the far end of the table, near the window. I took a moment between their pleasantries to have a good look at the man. He was forgettable, really. Brown hair, brown eyes, some stubble. He looked somewhere between his late thirties to early forties. His button down shirt had short sleeves rolled up shorter and a packet of cigarettes in his pocket. He didn't look at me so much as he glared. His head nodded up at me and he asked,

"Who's this?"

"A friend of mine." Ardyn answered before I could. I nodded. I didn't figure he was paying me to talk. I didn't know what they were even going to talk about. The man snorted in reply. "Oh come now, Merle."

"I came here to talk to you. Ain't wanna yammer in front of an audience." His grumble was gravely.

"You'll find her to be amiable company." Ardyn assured and sounded wholly confident, as if it were a fact.

I smiled. I like to think it was a good smile. A work smile, cheek in my hand and eyes creased to crescents. A good fake smile is all in the eyes. Too many people rely on the teeth. Merle looked at me a long moment, searching my face, and his eyes lid as if he'd been admonished. He was standing down. The best I could hope for.

Idly we all flipped through our menus. It hadn't occurred to me that I was hungry. In fact I hadn't eaten all day. I was afraid to peel open a granola bar in Ardyn's car. He seems like the kind of guy who'd gently remind me that he likes to keep the interior clean.

The waitress came. I ordered a burger and fries, a vanilla milkshake to go along with it. As she walked away Ardyn looked at Merle and asked, "So, how are the boys? I do hope you looked after them well."

"They're boys." He grumbled, realized that wasn't the answer Ardyn was looking for and went on to say, "Not happy with the recent noise goin' about but who is? The gloomy fella even gloomier now. Safe, though. Made it around the outskirts of the city without gettin' too many scrapes."

"And yourself?" Ardyn asked.

"Eh, few bruises here and there. Nothin' to complain about." There was something about the way he was sitting that made me figure that was a lie. An uncomfortable lean, as if he were favoring his left side. His dark eyes locked on me and his tongue moved around his mouth as if he were rolling words around. "What about you. What you do?"

"Up until today I was a bartender." No point in lying. I figured he wasn't appeased by "a friend" and I wasn't exactly dressed like a personal assistant.

"So can you make a drink? They ain't sell anythin' fancy here past rum and coke." He sniffed hard and I tried not to think about the state of his snot.

I leaned in, brows raising over my eyes and mouth a slow forming, shit eating grin. "I could make you the best fucking drink you ever tasted."

Merle scoffed incredulously but Ardyn let out a approving hum, I was following his advice. Don't sell myself short. Flopping back against the booth Merle crossed his arms and gesture to the menu with a jut of his chin. "Make me summin' then."

"Don't you think it's a little rude to do that here?" I looked over my shoulder at the counter.

"Ain't you just say you could make the best fucking drink I ever tasted?" A challenge issued, a small battle.

Both men were looking at me expectantly and immediately I felt like the world's biggest asshole. I was sitting there without a fully stocked bar and no damn clue what to do. I was fumbling, drowning, this was not how I wanted to spend my first day on the job.

When the waitress came back I had hobbled together a drink from the annals of my ass. I asked for a glass of rum, a glass of brandy, a few lemon wedges, and some ginger ale. She looked at me like I had seven heads. There was a conversation beyond me that I only half took part of as I waited.

I could tell you the intricacies of drink mixing but honestly I wasn't exactly being professional. I was sitting at a diner table trying desperately not to look like Merle had caught me in a bluff. In went the rum, in went the brandy, the ginger ale, the lemon juice. I slid the drink over to Merle and he looked at me dubiously. Making a small motion with my hands I said,

"Well don't look at me like I pissed in your cup." I scoffed.

So he drank. And he drank. Then he set the cup down and smacked his lips. Then he drank a little more. He offered me absolutely no compliment but seeing as how he was already halfway done with the drink by the time our food got to us, I figured he liked it. This seemed to please Ardyn as tipsy Merle proved to be far more amenable than sober Merle.

* * *

We were about done with our food when Ardyn stood up. Gil got slapped down on the table before I could protest.

"Food and lodging come with the job, my dear." And then he asked, "Would you both like to join me for a smoke?"

That seemed a little hinky. I know what a smoker smelled like and it wasn't Ardyn. Ardyn smelled of amber and warm incense and something spicy that I couldn't quite place. But he didn't smell like cigarettes.

Merle grunted as he stood up, a slight limp to his walk as he followed Ardyn out. I'd waited for them both to move to tail Merle. Something told me Ardyn didn't want him veering off. I felt remarkably like an attentive sheepdog. Maybe a border collie.

We walked behind the diner where there were no windows and nothing but dumpster rats as our witness. I noticed that Merle had a machete strapped to his leg. He was probably a hunter of some sort. He reached into his pocket to pull a cigarette out from his carton, held it between his teeth, and brought it to light. He was one of those people that pinched his cigarette between his thumb and forefinger.

"Your company was ever so enjoyable, Mr. Clarke. It always is. Now if you wouldn't mind parting with the prince's location I can leave you to your evening."

If I wasn't so focused on looking composed I'd have done a double take. The news had said the prince was dead. Then again, Ardyn had said the news got some things wrong.

"Lissen, Mr. Izuni—"

"Chancellor Izunia." Ardyn interrupted.

" —Chancellor Izunia, I lived outside Insomnia for years. They were my neighbors. Kid ain't done nothin' to me. Feels wrong to just go spillin' all this shite with the way things are right now." He stumbled over a few of his words nervously.

Ardyn sighed through his nose and adjusted the top of his hat. He had a look of ironic resignation. "You know well that I've no intention of harming the prince. Not one hair on his royal little head. I'd just like to know where he is, what he's doing. Come now, Mr. Clarke, would you really deny me after I've done so very much for you?"

Merle looked between Ardyn and I. He frowned. He spat to the side. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and let his cigarette hang from his lips.

"An' what are you gonna do if I don't tell you? Sick your girlie after me?" He taunted.

"Well. . ." Started Ardyn with a shrug. "If you insist. . ."

I was treated to another expected look on part of Ardyn. I turned to him, completely dumbfounded. I tried not to let it show through my expression. Something you learn on the streets is that the minute you let your front crack it gives the other person room to strike. Hackles raised, teeth bared, it was time to square up.

He had a machete, I remembered, but I had a pistol. He was too drunk to think to pull it from the sheathe and by the time he could my gun was already drawn. Merle looked at me, his dark eyes wide, and then he laughed. This son of a bitch actually had the audacity to laugh at me! I sneered, I narrowed my eyes, and I kept my gaze level with him as he walked in closer.

"What you gonna do? Gonna shoot me out back and what? Run out into the dark where all the damned daemons are? Yeah. Good fuckin' luck. How about—" His pitch was rising, his voice hung heavy with disbelief. I could tell he was getting desperate.

I kicked him. The flat of my boot came down hard against his kneecap. He hadn't been expecting that. Before I could feel smug about the matter he slugged me. Knuckles collided with my face and I could see stars light up in horrible colors around my vision.

Reeling my arm back I came up with the pistol and cold clocked him with the barrel. Merle's hand drew up to his face where blood slowly oozed from overtop his brow. There was a vein popping out from the side of his neck and an angry flush to his face. I took his moment of recoil to switch the safety off the gun and pull back the hammer.

"Yeah." My breath was ragged. My cheek throbbed. "He will sick his girlie on you. Got any more shit to say or you gonna tell the guy what he wants?"

From behind me I could hear Ardyn clap. "Good help is so hard to find these days? Don't you think, Merle?" Venom undertoned a honey sweet voice.

"Fuck." Merle hissed, holding his forehead. I kept my gun level with his face with a steady hand I had to concentrate too hard on. I didn't want to shoot. He didn't need to know that. "Fine. Shit. He's with The Immortal. They were goin' to the king's tombs and gettin' whatever they got inside. Boys went and reconvened with the resistance. Now they plannin' on going to the nearest base and raising hell. S'all I know, y'ain't gotta go waving that thing 'round no more!"

Ever have a moment where you feel completely in over your head? Yeah, me too. I gripped my gun a little tighter and tried to pretend I had a horse in this race. A moment of silence passed over us as Ardyn considered his answer. Merle had been set on a scale and I what would happen to the both of us if it tipped out of his favor.

I could hear Ardyn approaching from behind me. He stopped right at my side, his eyes fixed to Merle who was rapidly looking as if he might dart off into the desert at any moment. Don't, I thought, I don't want to have to shoot you. . . But I would, I realized. What was worth more, his life or mine?

"Wonderful. Why it's the second best news I've heard all day." Ardyn quipped. From his jacket he produced a wad of gil and promptly tossed it at Merle. It bounced from left hand to right before he found his grip. "Ceti, you may stand down."

I lowered my gun. Slowly.

"We done here?" Merle asked, gil tucked away and face as hardened as it was guarded.

"You're dismissed."

* * *

We got into the car and Ardyn shrugged his jacket back on. I sat there, gun in my hands, and tried to process what had just happened. I'd fucking pistol whipped a guy. Sure, I'd slug the occasional creep at the bar. I pointed a gun at a few thugs from time to time. But I'd never pistol whipped a guy.

I hate to admit it. . . but it made me feel powerful. For once in that horrible fucking day I felt like I was in control of something. Anything. I didn't want to pull the trigger. I could have, though.

The night was dark. Darker than it'd ever been in Insomina. I used to think I knew the night, the sights and the smells, the sounds and the taste. Sitting beneath a vast expanse of stars with naught but the headlights in front of us for light, I realized I didn't know shit. Somewhere in the distance I could hear a horrid, eerie wail. My adrenaline high vanished with it into the night.

"Well, well, well, Ms. Leparum. You've exceeded my expectations."

I opened my mouth to say something. I froze halfway. From my throat rose a thin sound like a string pulled tight. I never told him my last name.

That was by no margin a slip of the tongue. Ardyn was smiling, greasy and knowing. His eyes were on the road but I could tell he was relishing in my reaction from his peripherals. My jaw tightened. My eyes fixed to the road.


	3. Chapter 3

Alternate Title: In which Ravus and Loqi get like, five seconds of screentime.

* * *

"Feels a little far to be the nearest Imperial base." I muttered, eyes more fixed to the pom pom on the antenna flailing in the wind than where we were going. Twilight still clung to the horizon, sandwiching a singular pink line between the heavy darkness of the sky and the dusty shadows of the sand.

We'd stopped at some shit motel the night prior. My face still hurt like hell where a bruise had been planted, bloomed, and proceeded to live garishly on my face. Ardyn had greeted me that morning with a cup of coffee, a stack of gil, and an Imperial uniform. You ever try to hide an Imperial uniform beneath a trenchcoat? Here's a tip for you: don't.

"That's because we've no business at the nearest Imperial base." Ardyn answered more simply than I'd have liked. His auburn hair was whipping this way and that about his face.

A palpable silence hung between us. He was waiting expectantly for me to say something. I sighed and pushed my head up from my hand to look at him. It was Too Early For That Shit. "You want me to ask a question."

"My heart yearns for it." His purred, his voice like a knife through butter.

"Alright. . ." I started, nodding my head a couple of times. My brow popped, my finger wiggled. "You want me to ask what it is you're looking for."

"No, no. That's far too simple." His hand waved me off. "Try once more but with _feeling_ this time."

"You. . ." I began, my hands gesticulating in a small circle. ". . . Want me to. . . Ask what's on the itinerary for _us_ today."

"Ah!" His finger raised from the steering wheel. It lowered ever so slowly to point at me before shooting up again like the recoil of a gun. "Now that's what I'm paying you for. I intend for us to visit Brigadier General Loqi Tummelt and throw some. . . unexpected challenges his way."

My eyes narrowed. No matter how many times I did the math it didn't add up. Did he— "You plan to sabotage one of your own men?"

"I don't command the army." Ardyn snorted. "Not my circus, not my monkeys."

"And no need to feel guilty if you don't consider them your men." I said.

"My dear, you stop feeling guilt once you reach a certain age." He replied.

Again we lapsed into silence. Again, it was oddly comfortable. As much as I appreciate the value of being quiet there were a fair few questions I wanted to ask. Most prominently I wanted to know how he knew my surname. I never bought into the whole "the government is watching our every move" propaganda. Hell, with another country it was even _less_ likely.

It didn't feel like the right time for the question. I wasn't sure when the right time would be.

I wish I could describe the feel of sitting in the passenger's seat of the Chancellor's car while driving into what was—up into yesterday—an enemy base. The first feeling I got was that of a poignant unbelonging. I was an imposter. I was faking it. I didn't want to think of the repercussions I'd face should I be found out. Ardyn was in a position of power, yes, but even he couldn't work miracles.

I'd later realize this thought was profoundly wrong.

The car puttered along at a respectable speed as the gates opened. I tried to differentiate soldiers from the harsh, burning red eyes of the magitek infantry. Ardyn hummed a few notes as we pulled into a parking space. His hand slid affectionately overtop the steering wheel, as if he were parting with a beloved pet.

"You know what to do, I take?" He asked.

"Don't speak unless spoken to." I answered. That seemed easy enough.

"Good girl." I could hear the smile in his voice. Something nameless stirred in the basement of my chest. I felt as if he'd adopted me like some sort of dog. I couldn't really argue against it, I was picking up tricks so well thus far. It was becoming a system. He said "sic 'em!", I bared my teeth, he rewarded me with gil. What was I if not a dog?

Didn't mean I had to like it, of course.

* * *

General Tummelt was immediately insufferable. With him he carried the arrogance of someone who had something to prove. He was younger than me and very nearly babyfaced. I swore he smelled like boot polish.

It was in the middle of a terse conversation with himself and Ardyn that it happened.

"Chancellor, the airship is—" Loqi had stopped mid sentence, his mouth still open and his eyes stopped mid blink. He looked remarkably like what happens when you stop a video halfway through. For a moment I wondered if I was asleep. Perhaps this whole, horrible thing was a product of an overactive imagination. Since I had realized it was a dream I was bound to wake up at any moment.

"Goodness, I was wondering if he'd ever shut up." Ardyn scoffed from just in front of me. He had been standing perfectly still up until now, turning to me with his coat fluttering about his legs. His smile was wolfish and there was a twinkle in his eye. Beckoning for me to join him he began to walk with pep in his step off and away to some other side of the base.

For a long moment I was rooted in place. What, pray tell, the fuck was happening? Again I looked at the frozen General. I waved my hand over his face for good measure. Nothing.

I jogged a few paces ahead of Ardyn and turned around. My hands were held out to stop him from taking another step.

"Woah woah woah woah woah! You can't just—" I was so frazzled that I didn't know what I wanted to say. "You're going to explain this, right? We're not just gonna fucking pretend this is normal."

His hand brushed my own away as he continued to walk. In that touch something about him changed. His steps were less fluid and his arm was more tense. He drew his hand back and rubbed at it with the other.

"All in due time, my dear." He assured in a voice like satin over skin. For a moment I wanted to agree, to nod my head and go along with it. It felt nice to not ask questions, to allow someone to lead me where they may. Having to take control of my life from the ground up was existentially terrifying.

Sadly I couldn't give up the ghost on this one. Everything about this was too arcane, too eldritch, too strange to just blindly accept.

"No, not in due time! Due time is now! The world is just. . . stopped! How? Why? What—" I stopped myself. What are you seemed like the kind of question you ask when you want to rile someone up. " _Who_ are you?"

Ardyn turned to me with a sigh. There was a light frown on his face and his brows had arched dubiously over his eyes. Yet there was something in his eye, a glimmer of excitement amidst hazel. It reminded me of sun dappled against autumn leaves.

"Ardyn Izunia, Chancellor of Niflhi—" He started.

"Yes I _know_." I interrupted. "Let's start this again, with feeling this time. Who are you?"

His hands came to fold behind his back as he approached me. I could barely hear his boots slap against the pavement. Every sound save for our voices seemed to be under water. Ardyn came in close, close enough to smell amber and incense, close enough that his collar could've tickled my chin if I leaned in.

"I'm very old, Ceti, and very tired." He took a long breath in, eyes closing for a moment. "I'm a man looking to fulfill a destiny preordained." His oil spill of a voice was low, his lashes lidded as he looked down at me from over the curve of his cheek.

For what wasn't the first and certain not the last time I felt small. Not physically, though he'd a few inches on me, but cosmically. "That explains shit! What does that mean? What does it entail? Where are we going and—"

I was interrupted by a loud sigh.

"Ceti. Ceti, Ceti, _Ceti_. I know I've been trying to coax a sense of curiosity out of you but you have to understand the position that you're in." Ardyn nearly laughed this as he turned to the side and gave a grandiose gesture outward.

He didn't need to explain it to me. I was out here, alone, with what felt like my only lifeline. If he could freeze time he was doubtlessly powerful. If I pulled back too hard that lifeline would snap. My jaw clenched tight and I nodded once.

"Good girl." He said with a smile. Again that nameless feeling stirred in my chest. "Now, as your questions again but pray remember your manners."

"Well, sir." I tried sound as sincere with the word as I could. My shoulders were squared as I avoided his gaze. Standing there in Imperial uniform I almost felt like a real soldier. I forced myself to calm. "I wanted to know what your plan was. So far I've ascertained you don't want to be interrupted. But what don't you want interrupted?"

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" His fingers brushed under my chin. Again I could feel him go from smooth movements to something terse when he came in contact with me. "Now, as for what we're doing. . ." He turned, he began to stride forward. I followed him, turning around a cargo crate and past a few frozen soldiers. "General Tummelt will do as he does with these sorts of things, man one of those suits of magitek to defeat the prince. It's all rather inelegant. Unfortunately our young friend hasn't much experience with a real battle."

"The prince?" I asked. "Or Tummelt?"

"The prince." He answered. "The plan is to throw a few wrenches into Tummelt's armor to make sure Noctis survives the encounter."

"Doesn't that go against everything you set into motion?" There was some part of the equation I was missing.

"Hardly. It's imperative his majesty meets his fate." His answer was like the closing of a door. I had exhausted my regimented questions.

* * *

I had never so much as breathed next to a suit of magitek armor let alone tampered with one. As I climbed up one of the legs Ardyn hummed pleasantly below me. I had what was probably some advanced screwdriver in one hand and a pouch full of nails at my hip.

Back in Altissia when factories had just risen up frustrated workers would throw their shoes into gears to tamper with the machines. The very height of technology at the time and it'd all been taken down with a shoe. Sometimes the simplest methods had the biggest impact.

As I was drilling a hole big enough to fit a nail through near the "kneecap" of the armor Ardyn called up.

"I apologize for earlier!"

I stopped drilling and looked down bemusedly at him. "Scuse me?"

"Well, Mrs. Leparum." He couldn't even apologize without a power play. His hands were out on either side of him. "I said I was seeking a friend, hadn't I?" He paused and allowed the offer to linger. "That was no way to treat a friend."

I drilled a little more before answering, needing a moment to think that over. It wouldn't be wise to deny the offer even if I thought it was bullshit. On the other hand, I was lonely. I had the feeling I'd be spending hours with no one but Ardyn to keep me company. Even if it was all a facade it'd be nice to be friendly with him. Hell, with anyone.

"Gonna have to be a little more honest with me if that's the case." Maybe I could wriggle my way into a compromise. I slipped a nail into the hole I'd drilled, then another.

"I'll tell you anything you'd like to know." His words were meant to lull.

"How do you know my name?" It'd been bothering me since the night prior.

"I knew your father." He answered. This made me come to a cold stop. I turned back to look at him again with an owlish blink to my eyes. He smiled at me. It was a simple answer with complex implications.

"Was he. . . He was a soldier." I muttered. My father had never talked about any time spent in the military but my. . . my vision, my hallucination, my dream, my _whatever it was_ told me otherwise. "How did you know him? Thought that wasn't your circus, wasn't your monkeys."

"I'd a hand in a few other affairs." He said, meandering off to the far side of the room. Rather boredly he began to examine a wrench. "He had been part of a project I was overseeing. He wasn't as fond of it as I'd have hoped."

"Enough so that he went AWOL." Well that explained why good ol' pops spent his days teaching me how to load a gun instead of playing catch. I wanted to ask what could've been so terrible as to make him leave but I had the feeling I wouldn't get an answer. Or worse, the answer would lead to more questions.

"Indeed." Ardyn murmured.

"Huh. Wonder if that was before or after I was born. I don't remember squat about Niflheim." I was thinking out loud as I crawled further up the armor's leg.

"There isn't much to remember." Ardyn replied.

"Surprised you'd say that. There had to have been a ton of perks to being the Chancellor back home."

"Oh it was hardly home." Ardyn replied with a dismissive flick of his wrist. "I've always had a soft spot for Luscis."

"Hard to imagine you as a Lucian, all things considered." I muttered, looking down the barrel of of a gun. I reached into my pocket for some sand. There's a joke to be made about pocket sand but I'm not clever enough to make it. With a grimace I tried to keep my footing and feed sand down the barrel.

"I've many unexpected qualities. We all do. Why I'm sure no one would ever guess you were the daughter of a Niflheim soldier, but look at you!" His arms splayed wide as he walked about the armor. He was a shark and I was trying to swim. I had become keenly aware of the suit I was wearing. "Your father would be proud."

I sincerely doubted that. Ardyn's words were met with a poignant silence on my behalf as I turned back to the gun and continued my work. If all things went smoothly the general would be stuck with a somewhat wonky leg and a jamming gun. Not enough to notice immediately but enough to impede his work. I thought it was clever enough.

With my work done I shimmed down the leg and landed uneasily on my feet. My own armor clinked loudly. I'd been thankful no one was aware enough to hear me.

"That's that." I muttered and wiped sand off onto my trousers.

"Shall we pick up where we left off, then?" Ardyn made a rolling gesture towards the exit.

" —prepared to take me straight to the base. I will be taking my leave at your dismissal."

Just like that, everything resumed as normal. I had expected some sort of flare. Instead we stood where we'd been, back in our places like actors on a stage, and continued on with our roles.

"But of course, General Tummelt. Best of luck to you." Ardyn said with a tip of his hat and a dip of his head. My own dipped in turn and I was careful about keeping my gaze fixed to the ground.

"With all due respect sir, I don't think I'll be needing it." I could hear the clack of metal on metal as he walked off. It felt easier to breathe once he was out of sight. I wasn't much a fan of military protocol. I'd been taught all my life to look people dead in the eye, to keep careful stock of their details. This turned my lessons on their head.

"Chancellor Izunia." And just like that my ease was dispelled by an unfamiliar voice. It carried with it a wafting harshness. "Yet another unexpected visit. What business might you bring with your. . . auspicious presence?"

I turned in tandem with Ardyn. I was greeted to a stately white haired man in a stately white coat. He seemed particular, pristine, and precise. This immediately put me on guard, especially with the way he eyed me suspiciously before his gaze shot straight to Ardyn like a homing missile. I'd later learn this was Ravus Nox Fleuret.

"What can I say, Commander Fleuret? I couldn't help but give the young General my well wishes." Ardyn's face was an impassive mask capped over with a signature smile. "Why if he succeeds he'll be lauded as a hero."

"I'm sure General Tummelt was honored to have an audience with you." I could see the barest hint of irritation in Commander Fleuret's face. It was all in the tension of his brow and lips. He'd have been a pretty man, I thought, if he weren't so very severe. "Have you any other business?"

I took that as a subtle "fuck you, get out" and couldn't help but wonder what had happened between them to make the Commander so terse. Ardyn seemed unbothered. In fact I was half certain he was enjoying it.

"No, no. I believe my business here is finished, Commander." Answered Ardyn. He began to leave and I followed a few paces behind. As we past Ravus I could feel his gaze on me. It wasn't piercing, per se, rather it was cutting. He was slicing something off my image to store and ruminate over later. It was unsettling but I kept myself stoic.

* * *

"That's that my dear." Said Ardyn as he slapped yet another fat wad of cash down onto the hood of his car. We were stopped in the emptiness of the off road while I changed out of Imperial armor and into my clothes. His back was, politely, turned to me."We'll be heading to Lestallum from here on out."


	4. Chapter 4

Alternate Title: He really blew her away.

Mild trigger warning for abusive themes from here on out.

* * *

"How familiar are you with nursery rhymes?" The question appeared seemingly out of nowhere and proceeded to linger in my ears.

"Familiar enough. Think we all have a mythology phase." _That some of us never grow out of._ I might've had a few cosmology books sitting around at home.

"I take it then that you know of the Archaean?"

"From the deep, the Archaean calls… Yet on deaf ears, the gods' tongue falls, The King made to kneel in pain, he crawls. The great hero of Eos, he who caught the meteor, he who still holds it to this day." I was quiet for a moment as I inspected the ends of my hair for split ends. I could probably have used a haircut. Turning to Ardyn my arm slung over the back of my seat. "You know, always wondered why he didn't just put the thing down. Wouldn't have the same impact since he caught it."

"After all these eons it still has a searing burn." Ardyn answered, catching my eye out the corner of his. "We can only guess what would happen to the lands surrounding should he put it down."

"Fair point."

I turned to see if I could find the Disc of Cauthess somewhere on the distance. Sure enough it jutted out from the ground like shrapnel in a wound. Before all this started I couldn't bring myself to believe there'd been a man beneath, holding the thing up. I always wanted to believe, though. Things were different now. I suddenly felt as if there were two worlds: the world of the people and the world just behind it.

"You want to ask a question." Said Ardyn.

"My heart years for it." I parroted.

"Then by all means." He gesture, wrist flicking out. I half expected a card to fall out from his sleeve. "Ask away."

"Is. . ." My eyes were still fixed to the meteor. I had trouble bringing myself to ask. It felt silly and made me feel years younger. "Is he really there? You know, holding that thing up? There really an Astral just a ways away from Lestallum?"

"Oh undoubtedly." Answered Ardyn, as if it was indeed a silly question. "I met him once upon a time, you know."

"Bullshit."

"Is that really where you draw the line?"

"Gotta be a line somewhere." I snorted. When I turned I nearly jumped out of my skin. Right at eye level was the barrell of a gun. Was he actually going to shoot me? For what? Doubting him? More importantly where did he get a gun? Before I could open my mouth to speak or scream or stammer my way back into his good graces he let the thing drop. Barrel swung to and fro as he dangled a six shooter almost daintily from his index finger.

"Ardyn. . ." I began, softly but with a whole lot of feeling. "What the fuck."

"Oh don't look at me like you've never stared down the barrell of a gun before."

Briefly my mind flittered off to the bar. Guns would get drawn from time to time. The secret to civilian life is realizing—for the most part—that no one wants to shoot. Most disputes end in a fist fight. Sometimes a stray bullet will fire and sometimes that bullet will find purchase in a person. For the most part, though, guns in the city were aids to pissing contests. Well, at least in titty bars.

"Spin the cylinder a couple of times." He said. "Then press it to your temple."

"Not gonna fucking play nif roulette thank you very much!" My voice raised a little louder than I meant it to.

"Please consider earlier, Ceti."

I wasn't sure what part of earlier he meant, the part where he'd frozen time or the part where he threatened me. Both, I figured. Both were well worth considering. I wondered if this was the end of it. I'd rubbed elbows with a megalomaniac. The problem with playing cat and mouse is that somebody has to die at the end. I didn't think it would be literal.

Looking around for a moment I tried to see if there were any other cars on the road. Sunset dyed the world a glaring red and even on the distance I couldn't see a damned thing. No one behind us, either. It was a little late to risk my life leaping out the car, I'd get swallowed up by a daemon before I could try my luck at hitchhiking to Lestallum.

Ardyn tapped his finger impatiently against the steering wheel. Pale in the face and with a slight tremor to my hand I span the cylinder. It gave a loud whizz as I watched chambers blur together and then stop, suddenly, clicking into place. This was stupid, I thought as I pressed the barrel to my temple. This was actually stupid. I'd done the dumb thing and went off with some eccentric stranger in his gaudy old vintage car and now I was going to wind up in a ditch somewhere. My eyes squeezed shut. My breath caught in my chest. This was it.

I pulled the trigger.

The gun clicked. Empty.

All the breath left my chest in a groan somewhere between relieved and tired. With a slump of my shoulders I fell back into the seat.

"Good." Chirped Ardyn, turning a corner into an off road. "Now do it again."

"You can't be serious." I balked, jutting up from my seat.

Ardyn placed a hand over his chest. "My dear, I'm as serious as a heart attack."

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what I was supposed to say. Again, my options felt limited. If I refused then what would happen? He'd explained to me that I was in no position to argue but I had no reference as to what it was I'd deal with should I argue. I was faced with two great fears: death and the unknown.

Looking at Ardyn I was met with a vast uncaring. The wind whipped through his shaggy aubergine hair and he had the same vague smile he always carried with him. Again he'd begun to hum something drawling and tuneless. He was pretending not to notice my staring the way people ignore dogs beneath the dinner table.

With resignation I span the chamber again. _Only once more_ , I thought, _survive once more and you'll be done with it._ The whizzing felt loud in my ears and the snap almost made me flinch. In a white knuckled grasp I pressed the barrel to my head and squeezed my eyes shut in tandem with the trigger.

I heard the boom but I didn't feel the bullet. That made sense, I thought, a bullet straight to the brain and I'd be dead in seconds. Death proved to be more painless than I thought. I had always hoped for something more than darkness but hey, it wasn't the worst.

That didn't explain why I could still feel the wind through my hair or hear the growl of the engine through my tinnitus, though. In fact, I couldn't so much as feel the gun in my head. Tentatively I popped open an eye, the other followed. I was greeted to the sight of the road ahead and headlights still made faint by the sunset.

When I turned to my left I was treated to a view of the side of the road. Turning to my right provided an image far more grim.

Next to me, Ardyn slumped limply against the passenger's seat. The gun had tumbled out of his hand and between his legs. I looked at the short twitch of his fingers and felt dread sink in my stomach like a heavy stone. Did the bullet miss his temple? Was he still alive? I didn't want to trail my eyes up to check. My mind was already flooded with terrible images. Ardyn Izunia, sitting in the passenger's seat of his car, the top of his head blown clean off.

Down the slope of his neck was a trickle of black. That wasn't right. Couldn't have been right. I squinted. Maybe blood at the head was darker. Hesitantly I peered up and was met with his face. An almost fully intact face. Blackness oozed from a dime sized entry wound on one temple. On the other side of his head was the exit wound, skull blasted open and. . .

And darkness seeping out. It burst forth from his head like the tip of a cigarette ashed and then proceeded to curl about the air like smoke. I could feel my breath catch in my lungs. My eyes flit to his where I was met with black sclera and—He moved. Eyes locked to mine, dripping mouth curling into a smile.

I don't want to admit it but I shrieked louder than I thought I could. Wouldn't you? Before I could take full stock of what was going on the car veered off the road. _Shit._ I was in the driver's seat. My shrieks turned into short, monosyllabic exclamations. The beginnings of words—probably curses if they got that far—as I was jostled in the front seat. The steering wheel spun in my hands as dust kicked up about the car in a sprawling, sandy plume.

My foot slammed on the brake. I was jerked violently forward, seat belt cutting painfully against my clavicle. I could hear Ardyn's rolling laugh from beside me as we skidded further from the road. I hissed, hands gripping the steering wheel tighter than I've ever held on to anything in my life. I was shaking, down to my very bones I was shaking. My lungs felt as if they were on fire as I tried to catch my breath, tried to ground myself. Behind my eyes all I could feel was static.

"Oh, I haven't done that in _ages_." Ardyn spoke in a fond sigh. I was hyper aware of his voice as it slipped into my ears.

It took a laborious amount of force to turn my head and look at him. I didn't feel frozen, rather I felt as if I wasn't meant to move, as if I'd been still my whole life. He was still dripping some sort of fucking. . . Ichorous bullshit from his eyes and mouth. The wounds on his temples were rapidly falling shut, the darkness that'd seeped from them dissipating into the air.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't speak. I opened my mouth to try one or the other but my body wouldn't cooperate.

"Oh my, Ceti, what's wrong? You look as if you've seen a ghost." Ardyn seemed pleased with himself in the face of my fright.

My voice creaked quietly from the basement of my throat. "What _was_ that?"

"A lesson, Ceti." Answered Ardyn. His voice dropped into a whisper as he leaned into his seat. I didn't want to look at him. Looking at him would make the reality of his condition come to life. "Friendship, as you know, is based on trust. I've no reason to lie to you, Ceti."

He snapped his fingers near my face and I flinched, brought back into the world around me. "Ceti, Ceti dear, look at me." Night had begun to fall rapidly around us. I could almost pretend he was just a man, that the darkness that poured out from him were no more than shadows. "It's imperative you realize the curtain of the world has been lifted. Now you get to see what makes the play _work_. There is life as you were taught, and there is life as it is."

Ardyn smiled as he spoke. It could've been kind on any other face. "You're about to become the most well informed woman in all of Eos. All you need do is cast off your doubt."

* * *

Blood seeped slowly from my collar bone and onto the towel pressed to my chest. A blanket from the trunk was draped over me and I huddled into the reclined passenger's seat like some dejected mutt. I didn't have it in me to pretend to be asleep, rather my eyes were wide open and staring at nothing in particular, turned away from Ardyn.

He had flicked on the radio and was singing along to some tune that was popular about five years back. I couldn't decide if his voice was comforting or not, only that he knew how to carry a tune. We sped past what I think was a daemon that looked at the car with coal burning eyes but it made no move to give chase. I felt, paradoxically, considerably safe and in a weighty amount of danger at the same time.

I don't know when I fell asleep. Passed out would be the better term. My rest was heavy and dreamless. When I awoke I was laying overtop the covers in a hotel bed, blanket from the car still wrapped around me.

There were bloody cotton balls on the nightstand and a towel with a pinkish stain hanging over the radiator. The nap had done nothing for me. Suddenly a tremor shook the room, causing the lights in the room to flicker. I sat up too fast and could feel the room spin, hear blood rush around my ears.

" _Fuck."_ It was the best way to articulate my feelings in that moment.

"You're in shock." Said Ardyn from somewhere behind me. I rolled over onto my other hand to find him flipping through a cosmology book. "You'd do best not to push yourself."

Silence hung between us a moment. For some reason I was caught up on the fact that his socks were argyle print. Absently I felt around for my boots only to find my socks, too. No shoes on the furniture seemed like a trite principle all things considered.

"So there's a giant man—an Astral—holding the meteor." I muttered.

"You got it." Answered Ardyn, blithely.

"And you're. . .some sort of immortal."

"Bingo!" He even added in a finger gun.

I let out a long, slow breath. My hand raked through my hair. " _Shit."_


	5. Chapter 5

Notes: Hey it's been like, a thousand years but here's a new chapter. I kinda feel better about these since all the boyband's episodes are out. They're gonna drop an Episode: Ardyn and make me feel like a dunce but HEY. IT'S COOL. I STILL WANT THAT EPISODE. As with all chapters I appreciate when you show the story some love. . . Even if it makes me incredibly flustered.

Alternate Title: I vanish for six months and come back to give you all a (necessary) filler chapter.

* * *

It was raining by the time I woke up. I could hear the susurrus whisper of it against the motel's window pane as I slowly came to. The mess of cotton balls and bloodied towel had been taken care of. Sitting next to me on the nightstand was a coffee in one of those disposable motel cups. Ardyn wasn't there which was both a cold comfort and a source of dread. Groggily I pulled myself out of bed, coffee in hand. Pleasantly it'd already been sweetened. I'm a firm believer that sometimes it's the little things that stop us from going completely off the rails.

So instead of bolting towards the door I walked, sipping my coffee and remembering to slip on my boots. My outfit was still a collection of greys since the one black dress I could afford stuffed in a long forgotten closet back at home. I opened the door to an equally monochrome sky. A murky grey weeping rain down to splatter around asphalt.

My hair rapidly dampening I walked around the parking lot with an eye out for burgundy. Ardyn's car wasn't especially hard to find given how empty the place was. I could feel rain roll down my back as I stood at his bumper. I probably looked pretty vacant as I took a long slurp of my coffee and stared down at his license plate.

He hadn't left.

At the time I couldn't tell whether or not this was an auspicious sort of thing. I knew that he was grooming me to some end but I couldn't make heads or tails of where we were going. Up until last evening I'd been driven around blindfolded only for it to be tugged off abruptly. Now I was standing on a road I wasn't familiar with, in a land that both was mine and wasn't, and suddenly the shape of the world had been changed.

Behind me I could hear the plunk of shoes against the damp parking lot and the rustle of too much fabric. Ardyn didn't come to stand by my side, merely lingering behind. Waiting, likely, for something. Anything. Perhaps I was meant to be his entertainment.

"I'm not gonna be staying in Lestallum, am I?" The realization made me feel more adrift than I'd ever felt before.

"You've always a choice, my dear." Answered Ardyn.

He was wrong. I didn't have a choice. It didn't feel that way, not even remotely. The world had, in fact, been made in some grand design and I was now grasping at the coattails of one of its major players. I couldn't leave the narrative. Not now.

* * *

Ardyn spoke with the passion of a professor who landed the job not for his love of teaching but for his interest in the subject. It quickly became clear I was meant to listen, that this wasn't a dialogue. I was happy to oblige as I wasn't feeling particularly talkative.

"It will become apparent soon. The nights are are spanning out longer. Soon there won't be any sunlight left to spare. You can only imagine what will happen to the world once the sun refuses to rise." A silence hung between us where there might've been a question. "Yet when darkness veils the world, the King of Light shall come. Thus the Oracle must make the will of mortals—to raise the Chosen King—known to the Hexathon in order to fulfill. After all, how can the prince prove truly be the Chosen King if the Gods refuse him?" For a moment Ardyn sounded bitter.

Surely it was a rhetorical question. At least I thought it was. I'd been half zoned out, staring at Lestallum in the distance, when Ardyn turned to look at me expectantly.

"So you want to help save the world from its untimely fate?"

"Not quite, and I certainly wouldn't call it _untimely_. The starscourge has existed for eons." He turned back to the road with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Afraid I don't follow, then." Ardyn opened his mouth as if to speak but I raised a finger. "I get that we're supposed to get the prince from point A to point B. Just don't know _why._ "

" _Why_ isn't your problem at the moment." Ardyn said, simply.

* * *

It was still raining when we reached Lestallum. That wasn't particularly how I'd have _liked_ to return to my family but sometimes that's just the way things are. I'd stepped out of Ardyn's car with my bag in hand and stared out at the meteor in the distance. This far and it looked like I could pluck it up out of the ground between thumb and forefinger.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do once I see them." I said as I turned to look at Ardyn. Rain was catching in the brim of his hat.

"You're going to do what you always do, Ceti: Lie through your teeth." The statement was true, of course, but it didn't stop me from sneering. "Just as you did when you first got your job at the bar, or when you'd gotten your first girlfriend, or about how you sprained your ankle all those summers ago."

At least two of those were educated guesses. The third was what made me double take. I wanted to press him for details. I wanted to ignore him. Maybe he _had_ just gotten lucky with a bluff. It was easier to think that at the moment. There was already a whole lot for me to worry about. For instance, every time I shifted the bag in my hand my collarbone seared in pain. Nothing brings you out of your thoughts quite like raw, visceral pain.

"I'm gonna go see my mother." I muttered as I began to trundle away. "I figure you'll find me when you need me."

Knocking on my mother's door felt like coming home in an odd sort of way. I'd never actually lived in this house. She'd moved here from Insomnia when I was around eighteen and I'd opted to stay in the city. I still can't tell you whether or not that was a mistake.

The door opened to reveal wide, blue eyes and a forearm full of tattoos. Said arm was hooking me into a hug and duck my head into dark hair before I could even eek out a hello. I tried my best not to flinch as she hugged me, to ignore the pain in my collarbone, but I think there was a bit of a twitch even still.

"I can't believe you didn't answer any of my fucking calls." That's the first thing she said to me. It was a voice equal parts relieved and disgruntled. I chuckled half heartedly in response and gave her a bit of a squeeze.

"I was a little busy." It wasn't untrue but it still sounded a little flimsy when I said it.

"With what?" She snorted. Ah, leave it to mothers to not prescribe to one's bullshit.

"Being a refugee." I answered, dryly.

* * *

It didn't matter where I went or what I drank, my mother's coffee was the best damned coffee and that was that. Her, my sister, and I were sitting around the living room with mugs in hand. Some show about crayon manufacturing was on the droning on in the background which was quite frankly preferable to the news at this point. Or anything topical, really, I could live without being reminded there was a state of current affairs happening around us.

"I found a job." I said, finger tracing over the lip of my cup.

"Like, back at the Quay?" Asked my sister. For the most part she was staring at her phone, long fingernail clicking against the screen.

"Nah, traveling." This was enough to get the both of them to turn head towards me. My sister had that ever so impressive ability to raise one brow dramatically over her eye.

"Travelling." Repeated my mother. It's clear she was 1) skeptical and 2) wanted to hear exactly where this was going. I leaned back into the loveseat and spread my fingers in an outward gesture.

"Yeah, travelling! Insomnia is a piss off half burnt piece of shit right now. I could've. . ." My eyes widened and my mouth pulled into a taut line for but a moment as if to fill the gap of my words. "Died? Been herded like cattle? And all I would've seen my entire life would've been Insomnia, Lestallum, and the Quay. That's not how I want to live. That's never how I wanted to live."

I'll remind you all again: The key to a good lie is a half truth. This wasn't anything I hadn't expressed before everything went to shit. Of course it was all something I'd been too busy or too tight on money to do.

"So. . . How are you gonna travel? You have to make money somehow." My mother didn't sound entirely sold. Granted part of that was wanting me to live with _her_ from here on out. She'd been wanting that for a good long time. Admittedly things were probably more pleasant now that Evelyn's—my sister's—father wasn't around but _still_. There was a worldwide mystery to unravel. I could just live a nice quiet life in Lestallum. No thank you.

"I met one of those traveling merchants." I answered with a little shrug, lifting the cup to my lips to gulp down some coffee.

"The guys who sell guns?" My sister sounded a little to excited at the prospect.

"Yep! So you _know_ I'll be safe on the road." I gave a little assured nod.

"Unless it turns out they're fucking nuts." Snorted my mother. If only she knew.

"He's eccentric but I don't think he's completely off the rails." I said a little flippantly.

* * *

I still had no way to contact Ardyn. I figured if I just went outside and stood on an empty road while looking lost enough he'd find me. The rain hadn't let up yet, though, so it didn't seem like the best of plans. I'd spent enough of the early morning slightly soggy.

Seeing as there wasn't much to do after my mother and sister went to sleep I decided to turn in, too. Admittedly I was still tired. It was a profound fatigue. I still feel it to this day. You don't want to be the kind of tired I am.

The guest room was, perplexingly, done up with a nautical theme. The scented candle was supposed to smell like the seashore. Mostly it smelled slightly dusty when I laid my head on the pillow. It was still the softest bed I'd been in days, though. It didn't take long for me to drift off into a black and dreamless sleep.

You ever wake to that feeling of someone watching you? You know, that awful feeling that screams at you that you're not alone? Alright, well imagine that but when you awaken there's _actually_ someone else in the fucking room. Yeah, I'm sure you can imagine my horror.

I couldn't make out the figure at first, merely that it was a figure sitting on the edge of my bed. I couldn't conjure a scream as I shot up and slammed my back against the wall. The covers were clenched in my fist as they were some sort of protective barrier. I think what's most unsettling is what I saw when my vision began to adjust to the dark.

Sitting there in front of me, suited in Imperial armor, was my father. Years dead but looking damn near exactly as I remembered him. We were close in age like this. So much so that I could see more of myself in the crinkle of his eyes or the corner of his smile than I ever did before. He was looking apologetic as he reached out and placed a hand on my leg. It felt warm.

"We'll be going home soon, kiddo." His voice was quiet, deep but not too much so, a slight rasp on the edge of his words. They sounded like a reassurance.

At first I thought he'd meant Insomnia. It didn't take long for me to realize that'd never been _home_ for my father. Just a waystation. A place of asylum away from whatever it was he was running from. I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off as he leaned in some. "Remember to shoot straight."

Just like that it was morning. I could hear a shower running from down the hall and the bustle of life outside my window. I'd been slumped against the wall as if I hadn't moved all night. I didn't feel particularly rested. I never do. I spent the next minute staring at the space near my legs looking for an imprint. Given everything that'd happened in the past few days it could've been all too real a vision. It made me feel better thinking it was a dream, though, so I settled upon that explanation.

The morning progressed like a normal morning would. It made me nervous. The world was turning as if there wasn't a giant man holding up a rock a few miles away, or some old man waiting in the clouds, or that there wasn't some cosmic fire entity that wanted us all dead. Everything had been more palatable when I could look at our mythology and call it fiction, not fact. When Shiva was a tinfoil conspiracy it was one thing. When she was a frozen over dead goddess it was another.

My coffee came in one of those disposable cups again as I ventured out into the Lestallum streets. I'd taken the liberties of sleeping until noon so at this time there weren't many people milling about. I figured if I stood somewhere especially conspicuous I'd find Ardyn. It was a longshot. Honestly I'd probably have been better off standing near the car and waiting.

So, y'know, there I was. In an alley. Standing next to a trash can and some crates. As you do. My coffee was getting lukewarm and the cigarette I'd been smoking didn't calm me the way I'd have liked. My fingers had this tingling that wouldn't stop as if they'd go numb or vibrate through what I was holding.

"An alleyway, Ceti, really?" There he was. When I turned to look at him his fingers were spread and his smile was amused. "I'll admit I appreciate your sense of aesthetics but you could've just waited at the car." I fucking knew it.

"I wanted this whole. . ." My wrist rolled a few times and sent the smoke from my cigarette curling, "Shadowy business thing to feel authentic. Anyway, when are we leaving? Is there something I gotta do before we skip town?" Might as well get to business. Idle chit chat is something reserved for our arduously long car rides.

"We'll be leaving my tomorrow." Said Ardyn, simple as that. Yet his finger raised. "But before then I'd like you to be at the markets. There's a certain young man I think it'd do you well to have a rapport with. You'll know who to look for, he's in all black."

"You got any other descriptors?" I asked. Ardyn shrugged in reply. "Great."


	6. Chapter 6

Alternative Title: The Boys Are Back In Town

* * *

I'd like to say this is the part of the story where I diligently spent my entire day at the marketplace looking out for a boy in all black. That, however, would be a big fat lie. I spent most of my morning shopping for new clothes. Fucking sue me, I'd spent the better part of a week in the same two outfits. I was out of underwear. Do you know how gross that gets?

Anyway I'd gone home, changed, and ventured back around mid afternoon. It was blessedly sunny unlike the day prior. I'd found my way to the parking lot (or as Adryn liked to call it, the "car park". Fuck off) and tossed my bags into the back. I hoped he wouldn't complain about the clutter. Maybe he'd just move them to the trunk on his own.

Then I went to order another fucking milkshake, my second that week, so that I could plant my ass on a picnic table and people watch. It was supposed to be strawberry. It tasted like lipstick instead. About an hour later I found the boy. Or, rather, _he_ found _me_.

The sound of a camera click is about as loud as it is unmistakable. I heard it once, then twice, and before there could be a third time it had me turning to look. Lo and behold, once I did there was a boy in black. He seemed to be in the midst of taking another snapshot when he realized I was looking dead at him.

In review: I'd just found my mark _and_ he was so impressed with my new outfit he decided to snap a few photos. How often does that happen? Success tasted like artificial strawberry and serendipity.

I slipped off the table I'd been sitting on, cardigan—longline, I'm not some PTA mom—trailing behind me. The smile I flashed him was as friendly as I can manage and paired with a lift of my free hand in a wave. The poor kid looked like he was going to faint.

"You know you _have_ to let me see it now." I said with a raise of my brows as I beckoned him in. "It's only fair."

"Uh. . . Y-yeah! Sure thing." As I got closer it felt like this kid was going to vibrate out of his damn skin. He tilted the camera towards me so I could take a pick. Honestly I was impressed. I think universally most of us look like a saran wrapped mashed potatoes when people take candids. I actually looked good.

"Oh, wow." My tongue clicked against my teeth as I pushed my glasses up. "You do this for a living?"

"Nah." He seemed to relax a little, a hand running through a wealth of blonde hair. "It's more of a hobby. For now, anyway. Mostly I've been taking pictures of a friend's. . ." He's half turned, thumbing behind his shoulder, when his voice trails off. "Roadtrip."

Roadtrip. I wanted to repeat it flatly. Did he know? Here the both of us stood spiraling towards an apocalyptic sunset and we were talking as if it were just another day. I wanted to grab him by the shoulders, shake him a little, demand answers. But this kid was a fucking _kid_. He probably didn't know any more about the future at large than he did about what he wanted to do for a living.

"Nice, going anywhere in particular?" That's what I wound up saying instead.

"We've been exploring the woods, mostly. Roughing it around Eos." This kid was pointedly trying to look cool while saying that. The smile on his face lacked too much apathy to be sauve. "It gets pretty dangerous, especially at night, but it's no big deal for us."

He wasn't lying, I could discern that much. It probably had something to do with the tombs. Ardyn had mentioned it in the car but I hadn't put much stock into the subject. It wasn't as if we'd be setting foot in one. Easy to report if not a little hard to track.

Truth be told I don't remember much of the small talk I made with the kid. I found out his name was Prompto, that he'd been friends with what I presume was the prince for years. He wasn't especially remarkable but his disposition was sunny enough to make him memorable. I'd been about to leave when he stopped me.

"Hey uh. . . Not to make this weird or anything but if you give me your number I could send you the photos I snapped." He was cute. He was authentic.

"Yeah, sure thing." I said as I took out my phone. "Hell, you could send me anything interesting, why with your new job as a wildlife photographer."

"I'm not that cool." He snorted in reply, fingers tapping out his number into my phone. As he handed it back he asked, "You play King's Knight?"

"Not well." I responded dryly. "I'm shit at cellphone games." This earned a crack of a grin from him and blue eyes creased with his smile.

"Well if you ever get bored you can play with me. I don't really care about winning, just having fun." Ugh. He was precious.

With that we parted ways. I chucked my empty cup into a trash bin and took to a street side that wasn't especially busy but wasn't especially vacant, either. I pulled up a document page on my phone—you know, those apps people with office jobs probably use—and began typing. It was mostly shorthand but a lot of it was what I considered pertinent. A few facts, a few observations. It wasn't until I was done that I realized I never did get Ardyn's number. Did he even have a phone?

Boots padded against asphalt and my phone buzzed in my hand. I was headed to the parking lot when I got my first message from Prompto. One of the photos I'd recognized, the other was new, along with a third of me turning towards the camera. I looked better with sunglasses.

I found Ardyn where I'd hoped to find him: standing by his car.

"What's your number?" I called over with no real preamble and one hand raised in a wave.

"Goodness Ceti, do you mean to court me?" His half gloved hand rested over his heart and his brows raised to the shadow of his brim. For the briefest of moments I reveled in the idea of it. Imagine if that was all that was? Life would've been simpler. In their quest for spontaneity people make romance formulaic.

"You wish." I snorted, hands shoved in my pockets as I moseyed in closer. "I've got something I want to send to you."

"Well then let me see your phone." Ardyn said with a hand held out expectantly.

"Sure thing. Just put your number in when you're done, yeah?" It was optimistic of me to ask. Ardyn would do what Ardyn would do. If he wanted to me to stand naked on a crossroads when the moon was in the center of the sky to summon him then that's what I'd need to do to get a hold of him.

At a loss for what to do while he read my document I fussed around for my cigarettes and walked far enough away from the car so as to not get barked at. He was looking at the document and I was looking at his looking. Then, I was subsequently pretending not to be looking at his looking as I sucked on my cigarette. Finally he spoke up, "He seems soft. Unprepared."

"He seems like a kid." I replied. "A baby. How old _are_ these guys?" I don't know why but the thought of them all being around Prompto's age made me angry. It didn't seem fair. I'm sure if I'd kept up with Luscius' politics this wouldn't have hit so hard.

"Oh it hardly matters." Said Ardyn as he approached and proffered my phone to me. "His softness serves him now but it's got no place in the narrative further along." The hand he placed on my shoulder was unexpected enough that I flinched. He flinched, too. Smoke caught against the back of my throat and stung enough to make my eyes water. It felt like burning my finger on a flat iron. Silly and unnecessary. I wouldn't have felt it if I were more careful. "You'll be helping me with that. Though that's a task for future you. For now, the Archaean."

"Anything for you, boss." I replied dryly, checking my phone to keep busy. Ardyn had put in his phone number. It felt strange to look at somehow. I could call an ancient immortal the same way I could call the local pizza parlor.

Ardyn let his hand linger tensely on my shoulder while I smoked. My cigarette was rapidly burning towards the filter. It got crushed beneath my boot once I was done with it. By then we weren't touching anymore, just existing, but his presence hung palpably around me. I didn't know if I felt swaddled or suffocated.

"Wait in the car, Ceti." He said to me as he began to walk away. "I've something to tend to."

I wasn't looking at Ardyn when I slid into the passenger's seat. I'd instead flipped open a mirror and was getting a good look at myself. I could see the vestiges of a bruise beneath fading foundation. If I moved in the wrong way you could get a glimpse of the bandage at my collarbone. I'd seen better days. I wished they'd made me look like some manner of action hero or hunter but in reality they just made me look battered.

I didn't expect him to return with a group in tow but then again, what _had_ I been expecting? There was a moment of recognition, then surprise on Prompto's face as we locked eyes. I gave him a short wave from my seat to which he responded sheepishly. It earned him a few odd looks from the other boys. The shorter dark haired one I recognized vaguely. Seeing as how he was engaging with Ardyn I figured he was the prince. No clue who the other two were, one bulky and the other austere.

"I don't understand the point of having me talk to the kid if you were just going to talk to him anyway." I said, fist to cheek and sunglasses sliding down the bridge of my nose. My voice as as flat and dry as a desert plateau. Ardyn gave me a long suffering sidelong look.

"Would _you_ tell me anything if I came up and started speaking to you on the street?" He asked as if his unctuous charisma was a point of contention for him.

". . . Fair."

I watched their black car roll along behind us in the wing mirror. Even though I wasn't in the car I could feel a palpable tension. Not that it seemed they had any issue with one another rather they seemed not to know what they were walking into. It made me even more sympathetic. Not wanting to watch them (I was pretty sure I was already being paid to stalk them, I didn't want to be creepier than I had to) I took my eyes off the mirror and went to turn the radio on. My fingers halted at the clicking of Ardyn's tongue.

"Oh come now. You aren't going to talk to me, Ceti?" A sigh rose out from his chest. "Here I thought we were beginning to make a real connection."

"I don't really know what to say." I responded. I didn't. What was there _to_ say?

"I told you I was looking for a friend, didn't I? Tell me about yourself. What do you like? What do you do for fun?" Suddenly I felt like I was on a bad date. I suppose things weren't terribly different from online dating. Here he was, engagining me like I was meant to entertain him. There I was, unsure when he would threaten me or whether or not I'd end up in a dumpster.

"Hard to think of something when put on the spot." I muttered. The only sound that passed between us was the rush of wind and the purring of the engine. "Alright." I started, after a moment. "What's your opinion on the changes humanity has been making over time?"

"I thought I was the one asking you questions." Ardyn muttered as he looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"C'mon."

"Fine, fine." He let out a sigh and flicked his wrist. It seemed to take him a moment to think of an answer. I couldn't tell whether he wanted to give me the best answer he could or if he was trying to fabricate something palatable. "You. . . The first few years it's not much different than being alive. The new and unfamiliar can be hard to understand and thus you become resentful of them. But eventually keeping on trend becomes necessary for survival." His fingers readjusted against the steering wheel, gripping it a little tighter.

When he turned to look at me there was a brief flash of a moment where he looked fatigued by forever. "For the better part you begin to appreciate what the world can conjure. Nothing becomes more frightening than change. There's quite a bit of time to fill up."

I think what surprised me the most was that the answer seemed incredibly honest. I wasn't sure what to say in response so I stayed quiet, looked at my hands, quirked my mouth into a thin line.

"Do you have to compartmentalize more than you had to do when you were. . . Well, at your natural lifespan?"

"In some ways yes and in other ways no. Think about it, Ceti, do you feel like the same person now as you were ten years ago? Memory is a tricky thing." His voice was juxtaposed between melancholy and factual. There wasn't anything to mourn any longer. This was his life. "There are times where I must wonder what's real and what isn't, what I've dreamed and what I've experienced, what are facts and what are embellishments."

"Guess that makes sense. Don't think we were meant to live as long as you have." I paused, raised a hand. "No offense."

"None taken." It was as simple as that.

"So which was your favorite?" I spared a glance back at the boys behind us. It seemed like they had settled down.

"Life? I can't say I've given it much thought. There were quite a few, after all. I suppose I've some fondness back when I did theater." It wasn't particularly hard to imagine Ardyn on stage. I wondered how long ago it was, whether or not the stage makeup was more dramatic. What _kind_ of theater had he done? For some reason my mind lingered on opera.

"I like the theater." I said as I leaned back against the seat. "Never was one to think it better than films, though. Both have a different sort of charm. Suppose I like the intimacy of a play."

"I could never do films." Tutted Ardyn. "Not with technology the way it is. I couldn't be anyone of prominence once photography became more accessible. Now really is the best time to begin the end. It'd only be a matter of time before conspiracies fell out of the odd online chatroom and into more reputable papers."

"Guess you can only pass it off as a funny coincidence so many times. Don't figure you've had to do that recently." The sun was beginning to set just on the horizon. It felt earlier than it was and I wasn't prepared for the sight. "I remember reading an article about how you personally replaced Lady Lunafreya with a clone."

"They nearly hit a mark with that one." Ardyn said with a wiggle of his finger. He almost sounded impressed. There was a rest stop up ahead that he was switching lanes to pull in to. "Sadly they were sidetracked along the way and missed the mark utterly."

"Don't suppose I'll be getting a proper explanation for that tonight, will I?" Again I looked to see if the boys were following us into the waystation. They were. It wasn't as if they'd much a choice in the matter.

"Oh heavens no. You've got work to do tonight." The car slowly pulled into a parking space. I listened as the hum of the engine slowed to a stop, headlights winking out and leaving shadows in their wake. I was tapping my fingers on the car door now as I watched Ardyn skeptically.

"Do I gotta pistol whip another guy again or is it just talking?" It's important to know what to prepare for.

"Oh, just talking." He sounded very nearly flippant as he adjusted the hat on his head and pulled the keys from the ignition. "I want to know who you think the weakest link is."

Just as he'd finished speaking their car pulled up a few parking spaces down from us. There was an awkward moment of both of us pretending not to look at the other. Ardyn, of course, was more than happy to break the moment by directing a little wave their way. I wanted to ask a question but thought better of it. It wasn't as if I got anything more than vaguer from him and I _certainly_ wouldn't be getting anything with the prince and his retinue in earshot.


	7. Chapter 7

Notes: I'd like to give an exceedingly grateful thanks to everyone who has left me comments and support. It's incredibly heartening to know other people enjoy my story. I'll admit this chapter was difficult to write as I wanted to do everyone justice in their dialogue. I feel like this chapter has taught me a few things so HOPEFULLY more dialogue heavy chapters won't be as difficult for me later down the road.

Alternative Title: The sleepover episode

* * *

For some women sharing a trailer with four guys is their worst nightmare. For others still it's their wildest dream. For me it was a middling experience at best. The air smelled slightly like bodyspray and I had to keep insisting I'd sleep on the floor despite them insisting otherwise. Eventually I did win the argument but the battle of attrition was long fought.

"Do you fold?"

"I have no fucking clue."

I was also beginning to learn that the crown prince was secretly an old man. A young old man. He was sitting across from me with his blue eyes peeking out from over the red backs of his cards. Between this, fishing, and his propensity for napping the kid was twenty going on sixty five. I was so busy ruminating over his fustiness that I'd forgotten I just cursed in front of royalty. "Excuse me." Yeah that'd mend it.

"You can say fuck." Snorted Noctis, his cheek was on his knuckles now. Next to us Prompto gasped loudly.

"Are you sure that's not like. . . fifty years in the dungeons or something?" I asked as I set down a row of four cards. Four fours. "At least a hundred dollar fine? Also I got no clue what this means." I added as I slapped the backs of my fingers against my card spread.

"It means you lost!" Proclaimed Prompto as he slapped down his own cards. Four Jacks. I felt like I knew enough about cards to know that was bad for me. Sighing Noct set down his own cards. A line of even numbers. Making grabby hands Prompto looked from me to Noct. "Alright! Hand 'em over."

Begrudgingly both Noct and myself slid over five gil. Sure it was a low stakes game but that's enough for like, six bags of chips.

"Hey." Said Noct as he began to gather cards.

"Hey." I replied, expecting this to be some sort of preamble.

"So what's the deal with you and the Chancellor?" Ah, there it was, the million gil question.

"Yeah! It's like you're immune to his heebie jeeby field." Prompto chimed in. I made a bit of a face at that. Immune wasn't the right word for it. More like I'd been overexposed so in a constant state of paranoia was just my default setting now.

"Not really but I guess I've got a good poker face." I shrugged. "Anyway he's. . . I'm hitching a ride with him."

"To where?" Asked Noctis. I wished he wasn't so interested. I think it may have been concern. I _did_ just seem like a civilian. I _was_ just a civilian.

"Not sure yet. I don't really have anywhere to go. I'd've stopped at Lestallum but it's a bit small compared to what I'm used to."

"Yeah well, if you'd like I'm sure we could find you better company." Noct said as he began shuffling cards.

"Worst comes to worse you can come with us!" Though I didn't think it was true I was admittedly endeared by Prompto's offer.

"With _you_? Aren't you guys going off to talk to some giant man holding up an asteroid? You sure you gonna live through that?" I tried to sound playfully incredulous. Instead I just sounded plainly incredulous. It was hard not to, if I'm being fair with myself. The thought of seeing Titan even if at a distance made my hands tremble.

"I wasn't thinking about it before you brought it up! Now I sure hope we do!" Something about Prompto's tone matched with his hair made me think of a quarking chocobo. Noctis snickered and shook his head beside him, slipping cards back into their box.

"We'll be fine."

I hoped he was right.

* * *

Not everyone took to me so easily. Ignis had been cordial if not distant. Gladio, meanwhile, seemed particularly standoffish. It didn't help that he seemed to take what opportunities he could staring into my very goddamn soul. I didn't fault him for it after finding out he was the King's Shield but it still made shit awkward and unsettling.

I was leaving the trailer to have a smoke when he stopped me in the doorway.

"Hey." He started.

"Hey." I replied, growing increasing uncomfortable with conversations starting this way. Hey! I'm about to say something discomfiting! Golly!

"You good?" The question was asked with a readjustment of his crossed arms and an upwards nod. I had no idea what that meant. Was I, indeed, good? On a moral scale probably not. Not anymore. In terms of my emotional well being I was definitely not good. Physically I could be doing better. Not good, more like okay. A long awkward moment passed between us before I realized I hadn't actually said anything.

Finally he gestured up to his cheek—where my bruise was—and further down to his own collarbone. "He hasn't been giving you any problems, has he?" Funny how your regard for someone can change in a moment. The King wasn't the only one who Gladio was watching over.

"Uh, these?" I let out a faint chuckle. "Yeah, no, it's fine. I got these trying to get out of Insomnia." It was clear by the look on Gladio's face—dubious—that he didn't believe me. It's fine. He didn't have to. That probably worked more to my favor than not. With a curt nod he cleared space for me to step out of the trailer and into the night.

All manner of moths swirled about the overhead light as I walked 'round and settled my back against the trailer. I was bathed in the UV light of the parking lot and out feet in front of me was a black stretch of shadows. The daemons didn't seem to manifest too close but I felt like I could see something walking around the grass. Some wild animal, probably.

I looked down at my hand and for some reason was stricken that it was still indeed mine. Brown skin, nails growing unevenly from scrabbling at the steering wheel, the last vestiges of teal nail polish I still hadn't chipped off. I should've asked my mother for polish remover but the thought skipped my mind. Said hand went rummaging in my pockets for my cigarette. Over the crisp sound of my lighter burning I could hear someone coming out from the trailer.

Prompto's approach was awkwardly endearing. A slow roll of his steps and a hand scratching at the back of his neck. I flashed him a smile which he returned.

"So. . . Ceti. . . You're a girl, right?" He started with all the cadence of someone who had a better question than that.

"Better be." I replied. He snorted a snicker. "What's up?"

"Oh uh, nothin'." And then he paused. There was a light flush to his cheeks. "Well, something, I guess." I didn't say anything. Instead I allowed silence to linger between us. He'd have to find his words. "I uh. . .Well y'know, there's this girl, right?"

"Right." Of _course_ there was this girl.

"So let's say there was someone who liked you. You know, _liked_ you liked you. How would they be able to get your attention?" His blue eyes were fixed squarely to the tips of his boots. Were I a more vain woman I'd have thought he had eyes for me. Gods help me, I couldn't help but feel protective over this poor kid. He was around my sister's age.

"Well. . . I'd say it'd be pretty obvious." I hadn't meant to sound as dry as I did. As if to ease up on the tone I flashed him a reassuring smile. "It's a matter of _her_ being interested in you. She like anything?"

"Oh yeah! She's a mechanic." His eyes got a bit brighter. Somehow I don't think this was the information Ardyn was looking for. Or maybe it was. There was a lot to be gleaned from him when he spoke. Little bits and pieces in his mannerisms to pick apart and speculate on. It's not something I liked to think about but when you work with people on a day to day basis you get better at knowing what makes them tick.

The conversation carried on a little like pulling teeth. Eventually I wound up telling him he should take pictures of any interesting cars he'd seen to show this girl—Cindy—when he saw her again.

"Here, I tell you what." I said, grinding what was left of my cigarette into the pavement. "I'll brave Ardyn with you tomorrow so you can get a shot of his car."

"Yeah, cool!" When Prompto smiled he smiled with his whole face. "Thanks, Ceti."

He went back to the trailer and I followed in behind. Not without one last look into the dark, however. I didn't know where Ardyn was. He wasn't in his car. Not when I looked. With my breath held in my lungs I half anticipated to spot a man in a long dark coat standing out in the fields, a pack of daemons at his heels. Instead all I saw was the dark. A hematite sky littered with stars like milk splattered against leather.

* * *

Sleep eventually found me. I don't know when, just that it occured on the floor I had argued by place for and amidst Prompto's light snoring. For the past couple of days my sleep had been deep and dreamless. That night, however, was different.

The man sitting next to me in the dream kept addressing me as "Leparum" but I didn't feel like myself. My hands weren't my hands and my legs weren't my legs. And yet they _were_ me, but a size or two too big as if I'd have to one day grow into them. My companion was outfitted fully in Niflhiem armor. I couldn't make heads or tails of his face behind his mask but judging from his tone he was smiling at me.

In front of us was a cerulean sky wrought rich with fluffy white clouds. We were flying some manner of airship. I knew just what buttons to press though I couldn't tell you why I was pressing them. Something about air pressure or the position of jets.

I knew that when we got back to base I was due for some sort of promotion. It was a good job, a cushy job. At least that's what everyone had been telling me. Personally I thought it had dangers of its own. Working with the higher ups always did. It's all fancy trips and fine brewed espresso till you up and have to take a bullet for someone. I'd never heard about any attempts on the Chancellor's life but. . . Well, I suppose that's not something you hear about until one is successful.

* * *

I awoke to the sound of a dull vibration and the rustling of fabric. I lay there for a moment trying to get my bearings. I was still Leparum—Ceti Leparum—but I certainly wasn't wearing any armor and I definitely wasn't flying an airship. There were a pair of legs in dark jeans walking around the trailer quietly and three more boys still fast asleep. Peering up into the dim light of the trailer I could see Ignis getting himself together.

I figured this would be as good a time as any to get in a bit of conversation as him. Neither of us spoke as we milled about getting ready. A nonverbal agreement in a knowing glance not to wake the others. He exited the trailer first and I followed out after. Slowly, slowly, I closed the door behind me until I heard a click and then bounded down the few stairs after Ignis.

Speaking to Ignis, I found, was remarkably similar to trying to hold ice. Cold on his behalf and sloppy on mine.

"So, you're an early riser."

"I am indeed." His reply felt clipped. I was looking at him. He was looking ahead. Already I could tell this conversation was going nowhere.

"To. . . make breakfast, I presume? Noctis mentioned you do most of the cooking. I could help, if you like." I was trying to be friendly. The both of us were encroaching on the gas station store up ahead. That's when Ignis stopped. He looked at me and his green eyes felt startlingly piercing. No one had looked at me quite the way he had in a very long time. It wasn't a good look.

"If it's all the same to you, Ceti, I think we'd make for better strangers." His words were particularly cutting and if I wasn't floored in that moment I'd have been impressed. I was stopped dead in my tracks, arrested by his words. Ignis's footsteps crunched overtop asphalt as he walked further and further away from me till I watched him disappear into the gas station convenience store.

"Three out of four isn't bad, Ceti." Came a voice behind me. I nearly skittered out of my skin when I turned to find Ardyn behind me. He didn't seem nearly as bothered as I was, and believe you me, I was bothered. I don't often get snubbed and I'm shit at taking rejection. I felt something like terrible anxiety mixed with a blood boiling resentment. It wasn't my fault I was in this fucking situation. Then again, it wasn't fault he was in his situation, either. Ultimately I couldn't stay mad for that long.

"Yeah well, don't think I really got anything substantial." I replied with a roll of my shoulder. The soreness of sleeping on a floor was slowly starting to fall over me. My shoulder felt particularly tender.

"Whatever you did get is of worth to me." Ardyn seemed assured of it. He reached out to pat at the self same shoulder that was aching and I flinched more than I'd have liked. He flinched, too, but it was nearly imperceptible. He kept doing that, initiating contact and then recoiling, as if I wouldn't take note, as if he were sticking his hand into glass.

"So. . . What now?" I asked, shifting my weight to one leg. He was standing with his back to the sun. It made him look like a shadow of a man against the dawn of the countryside.

"I do believe you're going to smoke one more cigarette—" Because gods know he wasn't going to let me smoke in the car, " —And then we're going to go have a visit with the Archaean."


End file.
